Great comment about the timing and upper and lower body rotation. I'm going to work on that a lot more smartly because it definitely ain't coming together for me. I'd think that you should get the feeling of the buildup of power, as you do in winding up and pitching a baseball, or coiling to take a swing when batting. But the x step just leaves me uncoiled when I move my plant foot to the plant point. I think I'm just one of those players that just won't get it until I find an actual coach. And you're right, the wealth of information alone on this site and forum is staggering, but I still don't get it, lol. Congrats again sir!

But the x step just leaves me uncoiled when I move my plant foot to the plant point. I think I'm just one of those players that just won't get it until I find an actual coach.

Arm,

I thought the same case was me as I was first starting. I have been playing for 9 months now, so I know just how you feel. Timing the X step is something difficult, but its something that once you feel it done right its like a light switch. With me it was like practice practice practice, can't do it, practice practice practice, BAM got it!

One tip I have for you in regards to the X-Step is to slowwww it down, way down, practice it in slow motion. Do the steps in slow-mo and still fire it full power. After you feel comfortable with doing it in slow-mo, speed it up a bit. You'll get it in no time.

I've also found a real good way to start extending your pull back, and to help you generate power from your legs and hips is to watch your disc on the pull back. Practice your slow-mo X-Step, and turn slowly watching your disc. Then let HER rip! Just make sure you lead with your hips, not your shoulders or arm. Once you throw those hips everything will follow!

I tried your suggestion out for the last two evenings Muddy. It's really difficult to do that in slow motion. I had tried to go slow before, but it never occured to me to go in slowww motion before, nor sit there and watch the disc in my hand in the process.

I realized I wasn't throwing my hips into it leading to the rest of it. And I realized that I need to keep my hips back by a few split seconds in order to let them get in line first and lead the charge. Of course I don't have the timing down pat yet, but the slo-mo thing has developed something I never expected. Man, at the end of the night tonight , after buckets of sweat, I was throwing laser beams consistently, not sprayed-out half-the-ttime nose up snooty poodles. I was practicing this evening on a field unmarked, but I step off 17 natural paces at 40 feet, and I threw one (unnaturally) off-line 254 feet. And krusen's 'relaxed, smooth, fluid' tip is a part of this new fabric. Thank you guys.

Give me golf clubs, fresh air and a beautiful partner, and you can keep the clubs and the fresh air.
-Jack Benny

As far as I understand it, the faster you rotate your hips, the faster your shoulders come around and the faster you can get your arm out and throw the disc. (Simplified) This also seems to help getting more spin on the disc. This can be done standing, but I can see that the X-step hugely helps with this, because it is much easier to close the hips fully and then opening them for the throw. (and add the bonus of the forward momentum?) The problem for me is, that the faster i rotate, the more likely I am to get timing release issues and the problem of getting my weight distribution shifted over my front pivot foot.

X-step does help, but a stationary throw can go damn far as well... I practice it for the times I dont have room for an x-step and I can still get 90% of the distance i get with an x-step. When I read this thread last night it reminded me that I used to (when i had nice snap, litterally 3 weeks ago...) not bring my arm up for the reachback until my shoulders were FULLY closed, which allowed me to have more of a 'wind up' and yet have more relaxed muscles. So, thanks for this thread, it helped me game immensely

Okay thanks rehder, I see what you're saying. And as to that timing issue and weight distribution problem in faster rotation, surely you'll simply resolve that with practice and making adjustments, since you already have a fundamental grasp of how it needs to be to make it work. But, I'm somewhere between a plankton and an amoeba on the food chain so I could be wrong, lol.

Weebl, your comment blew me away, as you are a man who throws 350+, and anyone doing that I regard as someone who should be given The Key to the City, or made a statue of or something. That was a hell of a nice thing to say.

I can't wait to practice some more and experiment some with what you guys were saying, but this scorching heatwave won't break for another day or two and it's so bothersome to drag oxygen tanks to the practice field.

Arm Of Despair wrote:this scorching heatwave won't break for another day or two and it's so bothersome to drag oxygen tanks to the practice field.

bah! quit your whinin! i played from 5:00 untill 9:00 yesteday in my work clothes, meaning khakis (the shirt didnt last long) and the heat index here said 115.
today i was out again for another 3 hours with a heat index of 110.
bring a towel and lots of water. theres nothing wrong with a little sweat...

I'm 35 and played a tournament Sunday in actuall 100 degree heat (don't know what the index was). Get out there and play!!! I'd rather be hot and throwing plastic than cool and wasting daylight on the couch.

Arm Of Despair wrote:Weebl, your comment blew me away, as you are a man who throws 350+, and anyone doing that I regard as someone who should be given The Key to the City, or made a statue of or something. That was a hell of a nice thing to say.

You can't keep what you don't give away and I want to give back to Blake and the community (everyone plays a role) what has been given to me so freely, respect. Just because I can throw farther than some of you, doesn't mean you can't teach me something I need to know.

Nicely put Weebl, and honorable. I feel the same in that I know I'll never be able to thank Blake and all the people who contribute and share even in the most minute way, enough, but the best way to try is to simply do as you've just done, and share your own experience for others.

As for the weather...I've been out practicing for the past couple of weeks in the 110+ heat indices and it's all wonderful, but sheesh! A fella decides to take a day off because he's not the hard-charging stud he was a few years ago at 50 and the wolves come out circling! lol I hope that's a dead horse we can quit kicking anytime soon.

ok, arm, i can drive with my backhand like 320 feet acurately, with my forearm aroun 370 but it goes crazy... but my backhand is very unorthodox as i've never seen anyone drive like me. i dont even know how to describe it, but it's how i feel comfy, i'm hoping somone will show me how to drive properly at the MSO next month.